Medicare Enrollment Periods: When to Enroll to Avoid Late Enrollment Penalties

Medicare Enrollment Periods can be confusing. If you miss your enrollment periods, you could end up paying late enrollment penalties. Millions of people pay Medicare penalties every year because of missed enrollment periods. In this video, In this video, we'll go through all the enrollment periods you need to know about so you can avoid paying extra in late enrollment penalties.

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Initial Enrollment Period

The Initial Enrollment Period, or IEP, is a seven month window around the month in which you turn 65. For most people, it starts three months before your birth month and runs through three months after your birth month.

There is an exception. If your birthday is the first day of the month, your Medicare coverage starts the month before your birth month, and that moves your Initial Enrollment Period too.

What can you do during your Initial Enrollment Period?

You can enroll in Medicare Parts A and B. With very few exceptions, most people should enroll in Part A when they become eligible.

Your group health plan will be able to tell you whether you can safely delay Medicare Part B enrollment without penalty and whether your group plan’s drug coverage is considered creditable coverage by Medicare.

Also during your IEP, you can enroll in a Medicare Advantage plan or a standalone Part D plan and a Medicare Supplement, also known as Medigap plan. You can’t enroll in all of these plans. In most cases, you will choose either a Medicare Advantage plan that includes Part D drug coverage or a Medicare Supplement and a standalone Part D plan.

If you miss your Initial Enrollment Period, your next chance to sign up for Medicare Parts A and B is during the General Enrollment Period, which runs every year from January 1 through March 31 and your coverage becomes effective on July 1.

If you went without creditable coverage from another source, enrolling during the General Enrollment Period will add late enrollment penalties for both Medicare Part B and Part D.

If you enroll in Medicare Parts A and B during the General Enrollment Period, you will be able to use your Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment Period which runs for six months from the first day of your Part B coverage, and you will be able to enroll in a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan at that time. All plan coverage will be effective July 1.

Next, we have the Annual Enrollment Period. Between October 15 and December 7 every year, you can change your Medicare Advantage or Part D plans. Any changes made during the AEP will be effective January 1.

Next up is the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period. This is an annual period that runs from January 1 through March 31 and is only for people who are already enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan. During this time, you can switch Medicare Advantage plans or leave your Medicare Advantage plan and return to Original Medicare.

Those are all of the regular enrollment periods. There are also Special Enrollment Periods. You qualify for these based on changes in your life. If you leave your employer’s group health coverage, move to a new address, become eligible for Medicaid or lose Medicaid eligibility, lose your current coverage through no fault of your own, and so on, you may qualify for a Special Enrollment Period.

All the enrollment periods can be confusing, but you don’t have to keep track of them alone. We’re here to help you work through Medicare confusion to make sure you don’t miss any enrollment periods and avoid late enrollment penalties.

If you have questions or would like advice about your specific situation, please feel free to give us a call at 877-312-1414.

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0:00 Why You Need to Know Your Medicare Enrollment Periods
0:58 Initial Enrollment Period (IEP)
5:09 Medicare Supplement Open Enrollment Period
5:50 General Enrollment Period
7:52 Annual Enrollment Period (AEP)
8:16 Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period
9:03 Special Enrollment Periods (SEP)
10:05 Questions? We Can Help!